Research Briefing
By Brigid Francis-Devine,
Georgina Hutton

Women and the UK economy

4 March 2024

Summary
1
Trends in female employment
2 Women’s earnings
3 Women leading businesses

commonslibrary.parliament.uk

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Women and the UK economy

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Women and the UK economy

Contents
Summary

4

Women in employment

4

How much are women paid?

4

How many businesses are run by women?

51Trends in female employment

6

1.1

Women in work6

1.2

Full and part-time work7

1.3

Employees and the self-employed9

1.4

Employment by industry

10

1.5

Employment by occupation

12

1.6

Regional differences in women’s employment

14

1.7

Unemployment and economic inactivity

15

1.8

Labour market status by ethnic group

17

1.9

Labour market activity by disability status18

1.10 International comparisons

20

2

Women’s earnings

22

2.1

Trends in average pay

22

2.2

The gender pay gap

23

2.3

The gender pay gap varies with age

24

2.4

Low pay

27

3

Women leading businesses

29

3.1

Female-led small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

29

3.2

Female-led start-ups

29

3.3

Women on boards

30

3.4

Women in business – Further reading

32

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Women and the UK economy

SummaryThis briefing provides statistics and analysis on women’s participation in thelabour market and in business across the UK. It tracks trends by employment
type, industry, occupation, region and country, ethnic group and disability
status, as well as the gender pay gap and women leading businesses.
The data in this paper are from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) UK
labour market bulletins, which are released monthly, the ONS Annual Surveyof Hours and Earnings and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial
Strategy (BEIS) Small Business Survey, released annually.

Women in employment
In the UK, 16.06 million women aged 16 and over were in employment in
October to December 2023, according to the ONS UK Labour Force Survey.
This means that 75,000 more women were employed than in the year before.
The female employment rate was 72.1%, down from a record high of 72.4% in
December 2019 to February 2020. The male employment rate was 78.1%.
There were 10.05 million women working full time, while 6.01 million were
working part time. 38% of women in employment worked part-time,compared with 14% of men.
In the UK, the sectors with the most women in employment are health andsocial work (accounting for 21% of all jobs held by women as of September2023), the wholesale and retail trade (12%) and education (12%). In thehealth and social work sector, 77% of jobs are held by women, and ineducation it is 70%.

How much are women paid?
Median weekly pay for female full-time employees was £629 in April 2023,
according to data from the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. This
compared with £725 for male full-time employees.
After adjusting for inflation, median pay for women working full time wasaround 2% higher than its level during the economic downturn in 2008, while
median pay for men was around 11% lower.
In April 2023, the gender pay gap in median hourly pay (excluding overtime)
between men and women was:

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Women and the UK economy•••

7.7% for full-time employees-3.3% for part-time employees (meaning women tended to be paid
more than men)
14.3% for all employees

The gender pay gap for all employees is larger than either the full-time orpart-time pay gaps. This is because more women than men are employedpart time and part-time workers tend to earn less per hour than thoseworking full time.

How many businesses are run by women?
Of the UK’s small and medium-sized enterprises with employees, 18% were
led by women in 2022, according to data from the Government’s annual Small
Business Survey.
Men are more likely than women to be involved in ‘early-stage
entrepreneurial activity’, which includes owning or running a business lessthan 3.5 years old. Around 10% of women in the UK economy were early-stage
entrepreneurs (PDF) in 2022/23, compared to around 12% of men, according
to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. Just over 20% of all new companies
were all-female led in 2022.
In January 2024, 42.6% of FTSE100 and 42.1% of FTSE350 directorships were
occupied by women. Around half of all new FSTSE100 board appointments
were women (47%).

1 Related Library briefings

5•

UK labour market statistics•

The gender pay gap•

Business statistics•

Women in politics and public life•

Women and pensions•

Female Members of Parliament

Commons Library Research Briefing, 4 March 2024

Women and the UK economy

1

Trends in female employment

2 Labour market data is less reliable than usual
Between October 2023 and January 2024, the ONS only published someexperimental headline labour market data, because of issues with the Labour
Force Survey.
In February 2024, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reintroduced Labour
Force Survey (LFS) data, and also reweighted the data with up to datepopulation figures. The LFS data in Section 1 of this briefing is taken from the
February 2024 release.
The ONS said that the reintroduced LFS estimates should be treated withadditional caution, and that the quarterly change estimates are particularly
volatile. Due to time constraints, the ONS only reweighted LFS data from July to
September 2022 onwards. This means there is a break in the data for the period
before and after this quarter. The ONS has remodelled data back to June toAugust 2011 for the headline measures (employment, unemployment andeconomic inactivity), but not for other measures.
The Library briefing UK labour market statistics explains these data issues
further.

1.1

Women in work
There were 16.06 million women in the UK aged 16 and over in employment in
October to December 2023. The number of women in work was 75,000 morethan the same period a year before and 1.8 million more than the decade
before. 1
The female employment rate was 72.1% in October to December 2023. Recent
increases in the rate are partly due to changes in the state pension age forwomen. However, the rate has fallen slightly from a record high of 72.4%,
which was seen in December 2019 to February 2020.

1

6

Data in this section are from Office for National Statistics UK Labour Force Survey unless otherwise
stated. Recently, the ONS Labour Force Survey has had reliability issues which means the data
should be treated with caution. The Library briefing UK labour market statistics explains theseissues further.

Commons Library Research Briefing, 4 March 2024

Women and the UK economy

Employment rates for women and men, 1971-2023
Aged 16-64, seasonally adjusted
100%
Men
80%
60%

Women

40%
20%
0%
1971

1976

1981

1986

1991

1996

2001

2006

2011

2016

2021

Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), labour market bulletin, Table A02 SA, 14 February 2024

The employment rate for men aged 16–64 was 78.1% in October to December
2023. The gap between the male and female employment rates was 6.0
percentage points, down from 9.8 percentage points a decade ago. The
smallest gap (5.7 percentage points) was seen between February and April
2021.

1.2

Full and part-time work
There were 10.05 million women working full time in October to December
2023, while 6.01 million were working part time.
There has been strong growth in full-time employment since the end of 2012.
37.4% of women in employment were working part-time at the end of 2023.
This is down from around 45% during the 1990s and early 2000s and 42% in2018. This is due to strong growth in full-time employment among women in
the last decade. The chart below shows the change in women working fulltime and part-time since Q4 2007. It shows in the last ten years women
working full-time has increased quickly, with a sharper increase during thecoronavirus pandemic.
The proportion of men working part-time climbed from around 7% in 1992 to
13% in 2010 and has remained at a similar level since. In October toDecember 2023, 14% of men in employment worked part-time.

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Women and the UK economy

Changes in full-time and part-time employment since Q4 2007
Women aged 16+
2.5

Women working
full-time

2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
-0.5
2007

2009

2012

2014

2016

2018

Women working
part-time
2020
2022

Note: Data before the dotted line at July to September 2022 has been weighted with different
population data. Q4 is October to December.
Source: ONS, Table EMP01, 14 February 2024

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Women and the UK economy

1.3

Employees and the self-employed
There were 14.40 million women working as employees and 1.62 million wereself-employed in October to December 2023. 2 The number of women working
as employees is around 1.7 million higher than a decade ago, while around
250,000 more women are self-employed.
Women are more likely than men to work as employees: 89.6% of women in
employment were employees at the end of 2023 compared with 83.5% of men.
Around 10% of women were self-employed compared with 16% of men, andwomen comprised 37% of all self-employed workers.
The chart below shows the change in women being employees and selfemployed since Q4 2007. There was a small fall in the number of women
working as employees immediately following the 2008 economic downturn,but there was an increase in self-employment. The number of employees has
increased steadily since 2012 while the number of self-employed women has
stayed the same or decreased.
During the pandemic, the number of female employees increased while selfemployment fell. For men, falling employment levels during the pandemic
were mostly due to fewer men being self-employed. The Office for National
Statistics (ONS) has reported the decrease of self-employment over the
pandemic is partly due to people describing themselves as employees rather
than self-employed after the furlough scheme was created. 3
More information can be found in the Library briefing, Coronavirus: Impact on
the labour market.

Changes in self-employment and employee numbers sinceQ4 2007
2.5
2.0

Employees

1.5
1.0
0.5

Self-employed

0.0
-0.5
2007

2
3

2009

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020

2022

Data for November 2022 to January 2023 will be published by the ONS on 14 March 2023
ONS, Painting the full picture: what our statistics tell us about the labour market, 29 January 2021

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Women and the UK economy

Note: Data before the dotted line at July to September 2022 has been weighted with different
population data. Q4 is October to December
Source: ONS, Table EMP01, 14 February 2024

1.4
Women account forover three quartersof all jobs in thehealth and social
work sector.

Employment by industry
In the UK, the sectors with the most women in employment are health andsocial work (accounting for 21% of all jobs held by women as of September2023), the wholesale and retail trade (12%) and education (12%). 4
For men, the most common sectors also included the wholesale and retailtrade (13% of all jobs held by men), followed by manufacturing (10%) andconstruction (10%).
Women hold 77% of jobs in the health and social work sector and 70% of jobs
in education. Sectors where only a small proportion of jobs are held by
women include construction (16%), mining and quarrying (17%) andtransportation and storage (25%).

4

10

These figures are a count of jobs rather than people, since one person may hold multiple jobs.
Source: ONS Workforce jobs series via Nomis.

Commons Library Research Briefing, 4 March 2024

Women and the UK economy

Women's employment by industry, September 2023
MillionHealth and social work
Wholesale and retail
Education
Professional, scientific, technicalAccommodation & food services
Admin and support services
Public administration and…
Manufacturing
Other service activities
Information and communication
Financial and insurance activities
Arts, entertainment, recreation
Transportation and storage
Construction
Real estate activities
Agriculture, forestry and fishing
Water supply and sewerage
Household employers
Electricity, gas, steam
Mining and quarrying
0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

Source: ONS, Workforce jobs series via Nomis

11

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Women and the UK economy

1.5

Employment by occupation
Occupations are classified into nine broad categories (shown in the chart
below). 5
28% of women in employment worked in ‘professional occupations’ (such asengineers, doctors and nurses, teachers, accountants and lawyers) in
October 2022 to September 2023, compared with around 27% of men.
A higher share of men than women were working as managers, directors or
senior officials, with 13% of men in these roles compared with 8% of women.
Men were also more likely than women to be working in ‘skilled trades’ and asprocess, plant or machine operatives. Women were more likely than men to
be working in administrative and secretarial occupations; caring, leisure andother services occupations; and in sales and customer service occupations.

Employment by occupation
All people in enployment, October 2022 to September 2023

HigherpayingManagers, directors and senior officials

occupations

Professional occupations
Associate professional occupations
Skilled trades occupations
Administrative and secretarial
Process, plant, machine operatives
Caring, leisure and other services
Sales and customer service

Millions

Lower
Women

Men

Elementary Occupations
5

4

3

Lower paying

paying

2

1

0

1

2

3

4

5

occupations

Note: Occupations ranked based on median hourly pay (excluding overtime) for employees as of April 2023.
Source: ONS, Employment by status and occupation via Nomis and Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings via Nomis

5

ONS, Employment by status and occupation via Nomis

12

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Women and the UK economy

Across these occupation groups, women were more likely than men to workpart time. For both men and women, the share of workers who work part time
was highest in the lowest-paid occupations:

Employment by occupation% of all workers who are women, October 2022 to September 2023

Part-time workers

Full-time workers
Managers, directors and senior officials
Professional occupations

43%

Associate professional occupations

44%

Skilled trades occupations

69%
86%
24%

8%

Administrative and secretarial

90%

66%
33%

Process, plant, machine operatives 11%
Caring, leisure and other services

74%

Sales and customer service
Elementary Occupations

Higherpayingoccupations

65%

33%

74%
76%

50%
29%

62%

Lower
payingoccupations

Note: Occupations ranked based on median hourly pay (excluding overtime) for employees in April 2023.
Source: ONS, Employment by status and occupation and Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings via Nomis.

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Women and the UK economy

1.6

Regional differences in women’s employment
Women’s employment rate was highest in the South West (76%) and South
East (75%) of England in the 12 months to September 2023. It was lowest in
the East Midlands (69%) and the North East of England (70%).
Women aged 16–64 were less likely than men to be in employment across all
countries and regions of the UK. The gap between the male and female
employment rates ranged from 4 percentage points in Scotland and the North
East, to 12% points in the East Midlands.

Employment rates
Millions, people aged 16-64, October 2022-September 2023
Women

Men

East Midlands

69%

81%
73%

North East

70%

Northern Ireland

70%

Yorks & Humber

71%

79%

London

71%

78%

North West

71%

78%

West Midlands

72%

Wales

72%

United Kingdom

72%

Scotland

73%

East

74%

77%

78%
77%
79%
78%
82%

South East

75%

82%

South West

76%

82%

50%

60%

70%

80%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Source: ONS, Annual Population Survey via Nomis

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Women and the UK economy

1.7

Unemployment and economic inactivity
People who are not in work can either be unemployed (looking for andavailable for work) or economically inactive (not looking for or available forwork).
There were 582,000 women aged 16 and over unemployed in October toDecember 2023, compared with 737,000 men. The unemployment rate forwomen was 3.5%, less than the unemployment rate of 4.1% for men.
5.44 million women aged 16–64 were economically inactive in October toDecember 2023, which is 25.3% of women in this age group. There were
3.84 million men aged 16–64 who were inactive (18.4%).
There were large falls in the inactivity rate of women over the 1970s and 1980s
before a more gradual decline over the 1990s and 2000s. The rate has beenfalling more quickly again since 2010 due in part to increases in the statepension age for women.

Inactivity rates for women and men, 1971-2023
UK, aged 16-64
50%
45%
40%
35%
30%

Women

25%
20%
15%

Men

10%
5%
0%
1971 1975 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2016 2020

Source: ONS, UK labour market bulletin, Table A02, 14 February 2024

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Women and the UK economy

As the chart below shows that 1.38 million women were economically inactive
in October to December 2023 because they were looking after their family orhome.
1.30 million women were inactive because they were studying, and 1.53 million
were inactive due to being long-term sick. Long-term illness is now the mostcommon reason for people being inactive. The Library Insight How is healthaffecting economic inactivity? provides more information.

Main reason why people are economically inactive
Millions, aged 16-64, October-December 2023
1.8
Men

1.6
1.4
1.2
1.0

1.5
1.2

1.4

1.3

Women

1.3

0.8
0.6
0.4

0.5

0.2

0.6

0.6

0.6

0.3

0.0
Student

Looking after Long-term sickfamily or home

Retired

Other

Source: ONS, Labour market bulletin, Table INAC01, 14 February 2024

Economic inactivity has increased since the beginning of the coronavirus
pandemic and organisations like the Resolution Foundation haverecommended the Government reform childcare to allow women to enter thelabour market as a way of addressing this. 6
In the 2022 Autumn Statement, the Chancellor announced a review of ‘issues
holding back workforce participation’. 7 The Government is expanding its freechildcare scheme from April 2024. The Library briefing Help with childcare
costs in England provides more detail.

6

7

16

Resolution Foundation, Post-pandemic participation, Exploring labour force participation in the UK,
from the Covid-19 pandemic to the decade ahead, 21 February 2023
Gov.UK, The Autumn Statement 2022 speech, 17 November 2022, Gov.UK, The Autumn Statement
2022 speech, 17 November 2022

Commons Library Research Briefing, 4 March 2024

Women and the UK economy

1.8

Labour market status by ethnic groupAs outlined in Box 2, the latest labour market data is less reliable than usual.
Data on labour market status by ethnic group is particularly unreliable, so
this section provides information on overall trends instead specific figures,
which are likely to be inaccurate.

Unemployment
Unemployment rates are lower for people from White ethnic groups than forminority ethnic groups. Men from a White ethnic group have a higher
unemployment rate than women from a White ethnic group, whereas womenfrom minority ethnic groups have a higher unemployment rate then men.
Until 2019, unemployment for men and women in minority ethnic groups
mostly fell more rapidly than for people from White ethnic groups, whichmeant the gap between White ethnic groups and minority ethnic groups wasshrinking. The pandemic widened the gap again: the chart below shows asharp increase in unemployment for men and women from minority ethnic
groups in 2020. Women from a minority ethnic group are more likely to be
unemployed than any other group.

Unemployment rates by ethnic background and sex%, October-December 2007 to October-December 2023
18.0

Women - minority ethnic group

16.0

Men - minority ethnic group

14.0

Men - White ethnic group
Women - White ethnic group

12.0
10.0
8.0
6.0
4.0
2.0
0.0
2007

2009

2011

2013

2015

2017

2019

2021

2023

Source: ONS, Table A09, Labour market status by ethnic group, 14 February 2024
Notes: Minority ethnic background includes all people stating their ethnicity as 'Mixed', 'Indian','Pakistani', 'Bangladeshi', 'Chinese', 'Black/African/Caribbean' or 'Other'.

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Women and the UK economy

Employment and economic inactivity
Employment rates for men are consistently higher than for women across all
ethnic groups, and the gender gap is larger for people in minority ethnic
groups.
Men have higher employment rates partly because rates of economic
inactivity (people not in work and not looking for work) are usually higher for
women than men.
The Library briefing Unemployment by ethnic background provides further
breakdowns by ethnic group and gender.

1.9

Labour market activity by disability status
As outlined in Box 2, the latest labour market data is less reliable than usual.
Data on the employment rates of disabled people is particularly unreliable,
so this section provides information on overall trends instead specific figures,
which are likely to be inaccurate.
As shown in the chart below, the gap in the employment rate between
disabled women and women who are not disabled is large. Disabled women
also have a considerably higher rate of economic inactivity (they are much
more likely to be not in work and not looking for work). 8
Employment rates are similar for disabled women and disabled men. For themost part, since 2013, disabled men are slightly more likely to be unemployedthan disabled women, and disabled women have a slightly higher inactivity
rate than disabled men.
For more information, see the Library briefing, Disabled people inemployment.

8

18

The data use the Government Statistical Service Harmonised Standard Definition of Disability. The‘Important note’ tab in the ONS dataset A08: Labour market status of disabled people explains thisdefinition.

Commons Library Research Briefing, 4 March 2024

Women and the UK economy

Employment rate by disability status and sex
90

Men who are not disabled

80
70

Women who are not disabled

60

Disabled men

50
40

Disabled women

30
20
10
0
2013 2014 2015 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2020 2021 2022 2023

Source: ONS, Labour market bulletin, Table A08, 14 February 2024
Note: Government Statistical Service Harmonised Standard Definition of Disability.

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Women and the UK economy

1.10

International comparisons
The employment rate for women in the UK was 71.9% in July to September
2023, compared with 65.7% in the EU27.
Iceland had the highest female employment rate at 81.3%, followed by the
Netherlands at 78.9%. 9920Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Short-term labour statistics.

Commons Library Research Briefing, 4 March 2024

Women and the UK economy

Women employment rates, Q3 2023
OECD countries
Iceland81%

Netherlands

79%

Switzerland

76%

New Zealand

76%

Norway75%

Sweden75%

Estonia75%

Finland

74%

Australia

74%

Denmark

74%

Germany

74%

Japan

73%

Lithuania

73%

Canada

73%

UK

72%

Latvia71%

Portugal

70%

Austria

70%

Hungary

70%

Ireland70%

Slovenia

69%

Israel69%

Czechia

68%

Slovak Republic

68%

United States

68%

Luxembourg

67%

Poland67%

France

66%

EU

66%

Belgium

63%

Korea

61%

Spain

61%

Chile

55%

Greece

53%

Italy

52%

Colombia

52%

Mexico50%

Costa Rica
Türkiye44%
36%

Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Short-term labour
statistics. Q3 is July to September.
Note: Rate is % of women aged 15–64 in employment; seasonally adjusted.
Figures are published by OECD and therefore may differ from what is published elsewhere in thisbriefing.

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Women and the UK economy

2

Women’s earnings

2.1

Trends in average pay
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), median weekly earnings
for female employees working full time were £629 at April 2023, comparedwith £725 for male full-time employees. 10 The median is the point at whichhalf of people earn more and half earn less.

Median weekly pay
for female full-time
employees in 2023
was around thesame as its 2008
level, after
adjusting for
inflation.

After adjusting for inflation, average earnings decreased for both men andwomen following the economic downturn in 2008, although in the immediate
aftermath average pay for men fell more sharply.
In 2023, real median pay for female full-time employees was around 2% lower
than its 2008 level, while median pay for men was around 11% lower. The
Library briefing Average earnings by age and region provides more data on
women’s earnings.

Real median weekly earnings for full-time employees
1997-2023, April 2023 prices (adjusted for CPI inflation)
900

Men

800
700
600

Women

500
400
300
200
100
0
1997

2000

2003

2006

2009

2012

2015

2018

2021

Source: ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2023

10

22

ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings Table 1

Commons Library Research Briefing, 4 March 2024

Women and the UK economy

2.2

The gender pay gap
The gender pay gap measures the difference between average (median)hourly earnings of men and women, usually shown by the percentage men
earn more than women.
Part of the difference between men and women’s weekly earnings can be
attributed to hours worked, so the gender pay gap is usually measured byhourly pay.
In April 2023, the gender pay gap in median hourly pay (excluding overtime)
between men and women was:••

7.7% for full-time employees-3.3% for part-time employees (meaning women tended to be paid
more than men)
14.3% for all employees 11•

The gender pay gap
for full-time
employees has
decreased from 17%
in 1997 to 7.7% in
2023.

The gender pay gap for all employees is larger than either the full-time orpart-time pay gaps. This is because a much higher share of women than men
are employed part time and part-time workers tend to earn less per hour thanthose working full time.
There has broadly been a downward trend in the full-time pay gap since 1997
and the overall pay gap has also decreased. The part-time pay gap has
widened since the early 2000s.

Gender pay gap
UK, 1997-2023
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
-5%
-10%

All
employees
Full-timePart-time
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

Dashed lines indicate breaks in the series in 2004, 2006 and 2011, 2021

Source: ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2023

11

ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings Table 1 ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings , Gender
pay gap

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Women and the UK economy

2.3

The gender pay gap varies with age
The gender pay gap is small or negative for employees in their 20s or 30s but
widens considerably for older age groups.

Gender pay gap by age, April 2023
15%
10%
5%

Full-timePart-time

0%
-5%
-10%
18-21

22-29

30-39

40-49

50-59

60+

Source: ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2023

One reason for the age differences in the pay gap is generational differences:
younger workers have higher levels of educational attainment on averageand may be more likely to work in higher paying industries or occupations.
Another explanation is that factors affecting women’s employment andearnings opportunities become more evident when women are in their 30s
and 40s. For example, time spent out of the labour market to care for children
or elderly relatives could affect future earnings when a person returns towork.

Motherhood and the gender pay gap
Analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) finds that most of the gender
pay gaps can be traced to ‘child penalties’, or parenthood. It finds theaverage earnings of men are almost completely unaffected by parenthood,
but women’s earnings fall sharply when they become parents and thenstabilise at a much lower level with little growth.
The IFS finds that seven years after the birth of a first child, women’s earnings
are on average less than half of men’s. 12 Between 1991 and 2015, the pay gap(based on mean hourly earnings 13) between mothers and fathers was around

12
13

24

Institute for Fiscal Studies, Women and men at work, 6 December 2021
The rest of this paper looks at the gender pay gap based on median hourly pay.

Commons Library Research Briefing, 4 March 2024

Women and the UK economy

10% before the birth of their first child, but widened to a gap of around 30%
by the time the child is aged 13: 14
Gender pay gap by time to and since birth of first child

Note: Wage gap based on mean hourly pay. The age-adjusted series takes account of the fact that asmall part of the gap is due to age differences: men tend to be slightly older than women when theirfirst child is born. Figures exclude people in the bottom 2% of hourly wages.
Source: IFS BN223, Figure 5

3 Claudia Goldin’s Nobel Prize winning work on
women’s labour market participation
Claudia Goldin won the 2023 Nobel Prize in Economics for “for having
advanced our understanding of women’s labour market outcomes.” 15
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences article History helps us understandgender differences in the labour market (PDF) provides a summary of Goldin’swork. 16
Goldin’s books and articles include:

14

15
16

25

Monica Costa Dias, Robert Joyce and Francesca Parodi, Wage progression and the gender wage
gap: the causal impact of hours of work, IFS Briefing Note BN223, 5 February 2018, Figure 5. Note the
IFS analysis uses data from the British Household Panel Survey for 1991-2008 and the Understanding
Society survey for 2009-2015, rather than the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. Therefore
the IFS figures may differ from those presented elsewhere in this paper.
The Nobel Prize, Press release, 9 October 2023
LSE, What Claudia Goldin taught economics about women, labour markets and pay gaps, 13
November 2023 provides another summary of Goldin’s work

Commons Library Research Briefing, 4 March 2024

Women and the UK economy

Understanding the Gender Gap: An Economic History of American Women,
1990. This tracks women’s labour force participation since the 1790s.
The Quiet Revolution That Transformed Women's Employment, Education, andFamily, 2 May 2006. This discusses how the contraceptive pill changed
women’s labour force participation.
Career and Family: Women’s Century-Long Journey toward Equity, October
2021. This covers the history of women’s choice between work and family, as
well as how the nature of modern work and the coronavirus pandemic shapesthat choice.

Part-time
experience leads toless growth inearnings than fulltime experience.
Women are more
likely than men towork part-time.

Effect of full-time and part-time work
The gradual widening in the pay gap between mothers and fathers after thearrival of the first child is reflected in a widening gap in the amount of timespent in the workplace. Many mothers leave employment for a time after thebirth of the first child (this is observed for mothers across all education levels
but is particularly pronounced for the lowest-educated) while many others
move from full-time to part-time work. Both effects result in a loss of labour
market experience among mothers which accumulates over time.
The amount that men and women work part time tells us more about thewidening of the pay gap following the birth of a first child, than looking at thetime mothers spend out of employment. According to the IFS, extra years ofexperience make almost no difference to a woman’s wages if she works parttime. 17
What else might cause an increase in the pay gap after having children?
As noted above, time spent in full-time work only explains half of the increasein the pay gap between mothers and fathers during the twenty years following
the birth of their first child. Other factors include women being less likely to
successfully bargain for higher wages within a given firm, and more likely toenter ‘family-friendly’ occupations over high-paying ones. 18
Caring responsibilities may also constrain the length of time that people canspend travelling to work. A wide “gender commuting gap” opens in the years
following the birth of the first child, which evolves over time in a very similar
way to the gender pay gap between mothers and fathers (shown in the charton page 16). Nevertheless, this does not necessarily mean that the gender
pay gap is caused by a gender commuting gap: it is possible that both could

17

18

26

Monica Costa Dias, Robert Joyce and Francesca Parodi, Wage progression and the gender wage
gap: the causal impact of hours of work, IFS Briefing Note BN223, 5 February 2018 – p16
Research summarised in Monica Costa Dias, Robert Joyce and Francesca Parodi, Wage progression
and the gender wage gap: the causal impact of hours of work, IFS Briefing Note BN223, 5 February
2018 – p3.

Commons Library Research Briefing, 4 March 2024

Women and the UK economy

arise from another factor, such as women needing more flexibility in theirwork. 19
The IFS also discuss the potential effect of parental leave and childcare
policies on the gender pay gap among parents. 20
This is discussed in greater depth in the Library briefing, The gender pay gap.

2.4

Low pay
Increases to minimum wage rates since 2016 have reduced rates of low pay.
In 2022 9.0% of employees were low paid (paid less than two-thirds of themedian wage), compared to 20.7% in 2015. 21 In 2024, the minimum wage is
expected to reach 66% of median earnings, which will mean that people paid
the minimum wage will no longer be considered low paid. 22
The fall in low pay has been larger for women. In 1970, 45% of women were
low paid compared to 12% of men. In 2022 7.6% of women and 10.5% of men
were low paid.
This is because women are more likely than men to be working in jobs paying
the National Minimum Wage (NMW). The Low Pay Commission estimated thataround 6.4% of female employees aged 25 and over were paid at the relevant
minimum wage rate in April 2022, compared with just under 4.4% of male
employees aged 25 and over. 23 The National Living Wage (the NMW rate forworkers aged 23 and over) was set at £9.50 an hour between April 2022 andApril 2023. From April 2024 the NLW will be £11.44 and apply to people aged
21+.
Gaps between men and women in low hourly pay are closing quickly.
According to the Resolution Foundation, a think tank focussing on living
standards, in 1997 31% of women were on low hourly pay, compared with 14%
of men. In 2021, this rate had fallen to 15% (compared to 11% of men). Women
still make up the majority of workers on low hourly pay (61% in 2021). The gap
in low weekly pay is much larger, because more women work part time: in
1997, 46% of women were on low weekly pay, and this fell to 36% in 2021. 24

19

20
21
22
23
24

27

Robert Joyce and Agnes Norris Keiller, The 'gender commuting gap' widens considerably in the first
decade after childbirth, IFS Observation, 7 November 2018.
Institute for Fiscal Studies, Women and men at work, 6 December 2021
Resolution Foundation, Low Pay Britain 2023, 19 April 2023
Low Pay Commission, Low Pay Commission summary of evidence 2023, 21 November 2023
Low Pay Commission, 2022 Report, Figure 3.3
Resolution Foundation, Low pay Britain 2022, 25 May 2022

Commons Library Research Briefing, 4 March 2024

Women and the UK economy

Women are more
likely than men toremain in low-paid
work over the longterm.

Previous research by the Resolution Foundation, looked at the extent to whichpeople in low-paid jobs are able to move into higher-paid work or remain“stuck” in low pay (where low pay is defined as having earnings below two
thirds of median hourly pay). 25
Low-paid women were more likely than men to be stuck, although the risk ofremaining in low pay is lower than it was in the 1980s. Excluding those who
leave the data parameters over the following decade, the proportion of
women getting stuck fell from 48% in 1981–1991 to 30% in 2006–2016.

25

Resolution Foundation, Workertech and low pay, An overview of research on low-paid workers in theUK, 19 July 2021

28

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Women and the UK economy

3

Women leading businesses

3.1

Female-led small and medium-sizedenterprises (SMEs)
In 2022, 18% of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) employers were
led by women (meaning that they were either led by one woman or by amanagement team that is majority female), according to the Government’s
annual Small Business Survey. 26 This is a one percentage point fall compared
to 2021, and similar to figures since 2015.
The proportion of SMEs with no employees that were owned or led by women
was higher, at 20% in 2022, around the same as in 2021 and 2020. 27
Examining only SMEs with employees, women-led businesses were most likely
to be in the health and social care (44%), education (34%), other services(29%) and accommodation and food service (28%) sectors. 28 The “otherservices” sector includes businesses such as hair and beauty salons, sports
facilities and funeral homes.

3.2

Female-led start-ups
In 2022, just over 20% of all new companies were all-female led, up from 17%
in 2018, according to the 2023 Rose Review Progress Report. 29 Women in the
UK established over 150,000 new companies in 2022 – more than twice as
many as in 2018. 30
The Alison Rose Review of female entrepreneurship was a Treasurycommissioned review which began in 2018, looking at the barriers faced by
women starting and growing a business. 31 The first review report, published in
March 2019, stated that “up to £250 billion of new value could be added to the

26
27
28
29

30
31

29

DBT, Small business survey (employers), 31 August 2023, data table 30.
DBT, Small business survey (no employees), 31 August 2023, data table 29.
DBT, Small business survey (employers), 31 August 2023, data table 30.
Alison Rose Review of female entrepreneurship, Progress Report 2023, 22 February 2024 page 6. A
company is a business that has been incorporated at Companies House under the Companies Act
2006.
Alison Rose Review of female entrepreneurship, Progress Report 2023, 22 February 2024, page 6.
HM Treasury, The Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship, 8 March 2019.

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Women and the UK economy

UK economy if women started and scaled new businesses at the same rate as
UK men”. 32 Annual progress reports are published each year.
Around 10% of women in the UK economy were early-stage entrepreneurs in
2022/23, compared to around 12% of men, according to the Global
Entrepreneurship Monitoring survey (a consortium of international academic
institutions that run a global annual survey of entrepreneurship activity). 33
This includes owning or running a business that is less than three-and-a-halfyears old. This means that around 2 in 5 entrepreneurs in the UK were women(44%), up from around 1 in 3 in 2018/19. 34 The proportion of female
entrepreneurs in the UK was higher than in France and Germany, but lower
than in the United States. 35
The GEM found that the proportion of new businesses that transition toestablished businesses (operating for more than three-and-a-half years) islower for female-led businesses than male-led businesses. The GEM reported
that 4.1% of females in 2022 were ‘established business owners’ compared to
8.9% of males – a gap of 4.8 percentage points. 36

3.3

Women on boards
In January 2024, 42.6% of FTSE100 directorships were occupied by womenand around half of all new FSTSE100 board appointments were women(47%). 37 Nearly three-quarters of all FTSE100 Boards have at least 40%
women on their boards – the current voluntary target set by the FTSE Women
Leaders Review (discussed further below). 38
In January 2024, 41.8% FTSE250 directorships and 42.1% of FTSE350
directorships were held by women. 39

32

33

34

35
36

37

38
39

30

HM Treasury, The Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship (PDF), Executive Summary page 6,
8 March 2019.
The GEM reports on the ‘total early-stage entrepreneurial activity’ (TEA) rate, which is thepercentage of the working-age adult population (aged 18–64) who are early-stage entrepreneurs.
The GEM reported a 9.7% TEA rate for females and a 12.4% TEA rate for males. Global
Entrepreneurship Monitor, UK Report 2022/23 (PDF), page 18.
House of Commons Library calculation based on GEM TEA rates. Global Entrepreneurship Monitor,
UK Report 2022/23 (PDF), page 18.
Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, UK Report 2022/23 (PDF), page 18.
Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, UK Report 2022/23 (PDF), page 18-19. The Established Business
Owner (EBO) rate is the proportion of the adult population that is currently an owner-manager of anestablished business (operating for more than three and half years).
There were 445 women serving on FTSE 100 Boards out of a total of 1044 directorships. FTSE Women
Leaders, FTSE Women Leaders Review 2024 (PDF), February 2024, page 15.
FTSE Women Leaders, About Us, accessed 27 February 2024.
FTSE Women Leaders, FTSE Women Leaders Review 2024 (PDF), February 2024, Appendix page 48.

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Women and the UK economy

The following chart shows how the proportion of women on FTSE100 boards
has increased steadily since 1999 with more significant increases in recent
years.

FTSE-100 board members by gender
1999-2022, %
100%
80%
60%

Men
40%
20%
0%
1999

Women
2002

2005

2008

2011

2014

2017

2020

Source: Cranfield University, Female FTSE Board Report, 2022 and House of Commons Library

Women on boards: targets
A government backed voluntary target that FTSE100 boards should have aminimum of 25% female representation by 2015 was set in the 2011 report byLord Davies of Abersoch, Women on boards. 40 In October 2015, it wasannounced that this target had been met, and that 26% of FTSE100 board
members were women. 41
Building on the work of Lord Davies, in 2016 the Government commissioned
the Hampton-Alexander Review on FTSE women leaders, which reported eachyear from 2016–2021 on women representation at FTSE 350 firms. In 2016 theHampton-Alexander Review recommended that FTSE 350 companies should
aim for a minimum of 33% representation of women on their boards and intheir senior leadership positions (Executive Committee and Direct Reports) by
2020.
The final Hampton-Alexander report (PDF) was published in February 2021. It
reported that FTSE 350 Boards met and exceeded the 33% target on average(220 or 65% of companies met the target). The target for women in FTSE350

40
41

31

Lord Davies of Abersoch and BIS, Women on boards, February 2011, pg. 4
BIS, Women on boards: 5 year summary (Davies review), 29 October 2015.

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Women and the UK economy

leadership roles however fell short of the target, with 85 companies (30%)
achieving the target. 42
The Hampton-Alexander Review has been succeeded by the FTSE Women
Leaders Review. This review has set new voluntary targets, including that
FTSE 350 companies should reach:••

40% representation of women on FTSE 350 Boards and leadership teams(Executive Committee and Direct Reports) by the end of 2025; andFTSE 350 companies should have at least one woman in a key leadershiprole (Chair or Senior Independent Director role on the Board and/or one
woman in the Chief Executive Officer or Finance Director role) by the endof 2025. 43

The Cranfield School of Management, Female FTSE Board Reports, provide
further statistics on female representation on FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 company
boards including commentary on the voluntary approach to representation
targets.

3.4

Women in business – Further reading
The Fawcett Society report Sex & Power 2022 is a biennial publication thatprovides a breakdown of women’s representation in politics, business and thearts, and provides analysis of the challenges facing women of colour.
The annual Investing in Women Code annual reports, now published by the
British Business Bank, provide data on bank financing and venture capital
applications led by women. 44
The British Business Bank report Alone Together: entrepreneurship anddiversity in the UK, published in October 2020, examines the effect of ethnicand economic background as well as gender and place on entrepreneurial
opportunities and outcomes. It reports that female businesses owned by
women experience significantly lower median turnover than those owned bymen.
The Diversity Beyond Gender report, published in November 2020, looks at
venture capital investment according to race, gender and educational
background over the past 10 years. The report was published by Extend
Ventures (business, research and financial experts aiming to diversify accessto finance).

44

Hampton-Alexander Review, FTSE Women Leaders, February 2021 (PDF), page 10.
FTSE Women Leaders, Recommendations & Progress [accessed 18 November 2022].
British Business Bank, Investing in Women Code Annual Report 2023, 7 June 2023; British BusinessBank Investing in Women Code Annual Report 2022, 28 June 2022; HM Treasury, Investing in Women
Code Annual Report 2021, 19 April 2021.

32

Commons Library Research Briefing, 4 March 2024

42
43

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